


Flames

by BHBrowne



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Life Is Strange: Before The Storm (Video Game)
Genre: 'smoking' is a tag wowsers, Awkward Crush, F/F, Girls Kissing, Huge spoilers seriously, I don't know if I ship them or not, Inner Dialogue, Life Is Strange: Before The Storm Spoilers, POV Third Person, Smoking, and Rachel is just Rachel I think, and romance besides holding hands, awkward Chloe is best Chloe, but they're both so cute together, my first real attempt at writing kissing, so pretty please go easy on me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-20 01:01:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12421776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BHBrowne/pseuds/BHBrowne
Summary: ‘I don’t want to ruin this the way I ruin everything else.’The night before had been magical, despite how it ended. In a battered old truck, sitting on a pirate flag next to the girl she's fallen for way harder than she probably should have, Chloe tries to re-experience that magic again.





	Flames

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!
> 
> Been a while since I wrote anything as quickly as this. I got to play the episode way earlier, and as soon as I saw a certain scene between Rachel and Chloe I knew I had to write this. This is my first attempt writing kissing and stuff, so if it's terribad I apologise like the sorry waffle I am.
> 
> THERE ARE HUGE SPOILERS FOR LIFE IS STRANGE BEFORE THE STORM EPISODE TWO - BRAVE NEW WORLD IN THIS PIECE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
> 
> Thank you, the reader, for reading, and to ForeseeObstacles for being a huge source of inspiration for me in writing.
> 
> Enjoy!

_Thwick. Thwick._

“C’mon -”

_Thwick._

Chloe groans quietly, frowning at the cigarette clamped lightly between her lips. The cheap lighter clicks with every press of her thumb, sparks flying but no flame. She squints, trying again. _Let there be light!_ Greedily, she shifts the flame closer to the cancer-stick, inhaling shortly. 

With cigarette in hand - or, rather, mouth - Chloe glances back around the small cab of the truck, her feet kicking lightly. The singing man bobblehead stares at her silently, mouth agape. The pirate flag they’re perched on is already dirtied, Rachel having joked earlier that Chloe had shit herself. Chloe had refused to comment. Occasionally, one of them fiddles with the red bulb that dangles above them, bathing both of them in a fiery red glow for a moment or two, before it’s flicked off again.

Rachel’s sitting shoulder to shoulder with her, the faintest of smiles on her face. Which is … _surprising_ , considering … what happened, at the Amber house. Chloe tilts her head, watching her carefully. The night before had been … magical? No, no, that’s not … strong enough.

_Hella_ magical. That’s definitely more like it.

And yet she doesn’t know how to fucking talk about it.

She shifts the cigarette from her mouth, breathing out a hazy cloud of smoke as she frowns a little. Words usually aren’t difficult. Whether it’s being a smart-ass to get Drew to stop being a bullying dickhole, or getting herself _expelled_ , or just being an overall girl wonder - words, easy peasy. Yet, with Rachel -

Sometimes it’s as easy as breathing. Sometimes it’s the most difficult thing in the world.

Sat shoulder to shoulder with Rachel, Chloe can’t help but feel this is going to be a case of the latter. 

“You want one?”

Smoke trickles out the end of the cigarette, twisting and undulating around the pair. Rachel glances across, her smile widening. Wordlessly, she extends a hand, and Chloe eagerly withdraws a fresh one from her - rapidly depleting - carton, placing it carefully in Rachel’s delicate hand.

“Have you ever … ?”

“Can’t be _that_ hard.”

Chloe raises an eyebrow at the thinly veiled insult, patting her pockets for the lighter she’s just put away. Rachel sits a little more awkwardly, now, the faintest look of uncertainty on her face, cigarette held between two fingers. When she presents the lighter, Rachel’s eyes widen. Chloe blinks.

“Put it in your mouth.”

“ _Ooh-la-la_.”

_Smart-ass._ Chloe snorts, shaking her head.

“When I light it, breathe in, okay?” Rachel wordlessly nods in response, and Chloe leans towards her. _Okay, this is easy, you’ve done this with Justin a million times. Just … Justin wasn’t hot. And I never kissed him, and I never wanted to._

The lighter sparks, and Rachel flinches a little. Chloe can’t help but grin, fleetingly, at the thought of Rachel Amber being scared of fire, of all things. Considering … the forest. Still, she gives her a second, before flicking the cheap lighter again. _Spark._ _Spark. Flame._

Chloe leans over a little more, bringing the flame to the end of the cigarette. She hears Rachel inhale sharply, then leans away from her. There’s a single moment of quiet, and then -

She smiles fondly, remembering when she first smoked. Rachel’s coughing, doubled over slightly. The sound of her coughing fills the cabin, Chloe instinctively rubbing Rachel’s back to help in … some way. After a moment longer, however, the coughing quietens. Chloe moves her hand away, tilting her head a little.

“Still alive?”

Rachel responds by taking another drag, and blowing faint wisps of smoke in Chloe’s face. The sixteen-year-old sputters indignantly, widening her eyes at Rachel as she bursts into delightful sounding laughter, sounding carefree in this precious moment. Chloe looks away for a moment, fiddling with her beanie as she feels a gentle heat in her cheeks.

Heat that has nothing to do with the smoke and flames in front of her face.

_What are you doing to me, Rachel?_

“I’ll take that as a ‘ _yes_ ’.”  Chloe snarks, blowing smoke back in Rachel’s face. The world’s laziest game of _catch-the-cancer._ Rachel giggles, shaking her head, as they lapse back into silence. Now and then, Rachel lets out a cough, still getting used to the quickly dwindling cigarette in her hand.

The night before plays in her head, again.

_"That woman wasn’t my mistress… that was your_ **_mother_   _._** _"_

_Rachel steps backwards, shaking her head. Chloe reaches for Rachel’s hand, to reassure her, and then she’s sprinting away and up the stairs._

_She wants to hold her, to run her fingers through her hair and clutch her tight._

_Instead, she wordlessly gives pursuit to her friend, not listening as James Amber called after them._

“Do you …” Chloe coughs, glancing across at Rachel carefully. “Last night was … fucking intense, huh?”

_Too blunt. That’s two-for-two._

Rachel sighs, leaning against her door and taking another drag of her cigarette - too long for a beginner. She coughs, loudly, shaking her head a little and wincing. Smoke bursts from her lips, faint wisps coming out her nose as well. _Rachel the nicotine dragon._ Chloe resists the urge to tease her.

“Yeah.”

The cigarette burns limply in her two fingered grip, her other hand rubbing her face.

“You’re … _okay_ , right?”

Another inhale. Coughing.

“Rachel?”

“I’m … _fine_.”

_No. You’re not._

“Are you?” Chloe keeps her voice light, punctuating the question with a drag of her own. She wrinkles her brow. “I just … I want you to be _o_ -”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Chloe swallows, nodding, fully aware the last time she pushed Rachel ended in a wine bottle being hurled at her. She coughs, her eyes darting to that spot for a moment. She focusses back on Rachel.

“That’s fine. If you want to talk, I’m here for you, but -”

“Thanks.”

“You’d do the same, if my dad …” she sniffs, letting out a shuddering sigh. Rachel touches her knee, for a moment. Chloe feels sparks course through her body, and resists every urge to hold that hand as they lapse into silence.

After a couple more minutes, after her cigarette is disposed of, Chloe leans back and lets loose an exaggerated yawn. Rachel flicks her own out of the window, watching it flutter out into the junkyard, before leaning back and huffing out a sigh.

Chloe has no idea how she’d cope with this shit. Admittedly, she thinks a dad lying in a hole in the earth is worse than having a father that lies to his family. That being said, you’re - you’re meant to be able to _love_ your dad. Yet Rachel just …

… she hates him.

“Have you worked on this?" 

Rachel’s voice pulls her from her thoughts. One of her fingers traces the all-seeing eye scribbled onto the truck, a smile touching her cheeks. Chloe glances at the graffiti, rapping a single knuckle against the doodle too.

“ _This?_ ”

“I mean, the Mystery Machine.”

_Max loved Scooby-Doo._

“I’ll work on it... _if_ I get to be Fred.”

“I had you down as Shaggy, but sure.” One of her fingers flick at Chloe’s hair, giggling slightly. She tries her best not to show the delight that’s burning in her belly. Judging from the way Rachel’s smile widens, however, she’s done a shitty job.

Chloe shakes her head, bumping Rachel’s shoulder with her fist. The younger of the two gives a little chuckle, grinning to herself. Chloe drinks in the sight for a moment, before thinking the question over. _Ah._

“Well, uhh … not … no, not really.”

Rachel hums, looking back around the truck. A slight knot forms in Chloe’s gut at the disappointed noise, and she shuffles a little closer to the blonde, her voice a little higher pitched as she starts talking.

“B - But, _but_ , I took some of those repair manuals from the Mustache -" 

“The _Mustache?_ ” Rachel laughs, shaking her head. Chloe grins, that warm feeling in her cheeks intensifying.

“Uhh, Officer David Dickhead. My mom’s boyfriend -”

“Ohh, you mean your Step-ladder?”

She gives Rachel a slight shove, frowning. Rachel’s tinkling laugh gets louder, the petite blonde hugging herself as she cackles. Chloe huffs, sitting back in her seat, running her fingers around the steering wheel.

“Anyway…” she starts awkwardly, unable to repress her smile at the sight of Rachel with that shit-eating grin on her fucking perfect face. “Stepdouche has a bunch of these … uhh, like … he’s fixing up his car, and he wasn’t in the garage, so I grabbed some of his car-repair books …”

“You still have them?” Rachel sits straighter, her eyes widening. Chloe nods, her smile becoming prouder and less lovestruck. A little less, anyway. Her heart twitches, however, and she grins at the girl sat next to her.

“In our, like, clubhouse. Yeah. Didn’t know what to grab, so ...”

“Look at you, _girl wonder_ ,” Rachel knocks Chloe’s gut with her elbow, her voice a slight coo.

“I, uhh … I took my dad’s tools, too. My real dad’s, not …” she clears her throat, fidgeting in her seat. Rachel nods slowly, a sympathetic gesture. “So … I can still fix it. Like I promised.”

“You’re our saving grace.”

_Stop fucking blushing, you look like a dork, Price._

“It’s nothing, really,” she mumbles, even as fireworks explode in her head at the praise. “Just something to do, now that I’m … not at Blackhell,” she lets out a single ‘heh’, shrugging. Rachel frowns, looking down at her sneakers. “It’s whatever. I don’t care.”

“It’s bullshit,” Rachel mumbles, leaning her head against Chloe’s shoulder. Chloe shrugs, smiling thinly. The shit she’d gotten from mom and David for that, back in the parking lot, definitely supports Rachel’s claim.

“It was going to happen eventually.”

“Still… I’m sorry.”

"Don't be.  _I'm_ the one that should be sorry - I'm sure  _Rachel Amber_ doesn't want to hang out with a -" 

_Disappointment?_

_High Risk?_

_Freak?_

_Loser?_

"... high school drop out, like me."

"If you're Chloe Price, I don't care what else you are." Rachel says softly, and Chloe catches her warm smile in the rear-view mirror. Her heart flutters, and she scratches the back of her neck for a moment. "But ... I just figured you'd be ... upset, or something -"

"I really don’t care.”

“Hmm-hmm.” Rachel pauses, shuffling, her glowing grin ebbing away. “I saw what you did to the girl’s bathroom.”

“And?”

_Please say you liked it._

“Not the work of someone who 'really doesn’t care'.” Rachel makes air quotes with her finger as she talks softly, nuzzling against Chloe. The sixteen-year-old grunts, not having any ‘real’ counter to that point. _She didn’t say she **didn't** like it_ _._  “But it was cool, _nonetheless._ ”

_Fuck, yes._

“Hella cool?”

Rachel lets out a single _‘hah’_ , tilting her head to make eye contact for a moment.

“ _Hella_ cool.”

They sit in silence, after that, Chloe more than content with how they’re sitting ... the way Rachel’s soft and silky hair tickles her chin, the gentle weight on her shoulder, the faint sound of her breathing…

_Jesus._

The night after the play goes through her mind, the giddiness that felt like electricity and the way her heart pounded as she wordlessly took Rachel’s hand in hers, how she kept quietly readjusting her beanie cap to try and get Rachel to notice it, the warmth that was in Rachel’s hand and eyes, and the gentle firmness of the kiss -

_Fucking._

What she wouldn’t give for another one of Rachel’s kisses. But how … does she even go about _asking_ for that? _‘Hey, I’m hugely attracted to you, now shuffle over and gimme another kiss please, because I really like you?’_ No, no, that’s … needy and shit.

_Christ._

Her throat feels dry, and her heart pounds faster as she realises how close Rachel is. She wonders if Rachel can hear her heart beating like a drum. If she can read her mind, right now, like how she read her mind in _two truths and a lie_. If she can feel her breathing getting quicker -

“What do you think is wrong with it?”

“With the truck?”

“ _Nooo_ , with the singing dude on the dash,” Rachel over enunciates the first word, theatrical and sarcastic. Chloe, again, snorts. She shrugs, running her fingers around the steering wheel again, pretending she’s driving out of Arcadia Bay. _Soon._ She tries to recall what little she read about in the books she’d stolen, frowning a little. _Nope, can’t remember._

“Probably everything, knowing my fucking luck.”

“If you figure it out, though -”

“- and then we can leave Shit-cadia Bay, yeah.”

“Exactly! And, with the grand that you kept -”

Chloe gasps, despite herself, shutting her eyes. Poor Mikey, trying to push past her until she whispered for him to stay behind her. Treating him a little like how she’d treat Max during a scary movie, for a couple moments, whispering that it’d all be okay. Hearing Drew scream in pain. Hiding the money, deliberately, when she _knew_ Drew’s dad was homeless.

_Piece of fucking shit._

“Shit, Chloe, I’m … sorry.”

“‘s’my own fault,” Chloe mutters, pulling at a loose thread of the pirate flag. She can’t look at Rachel, her heart sinking.  “Figured it’d help us more than … _fuck_.”

“It _will,”_ as Rachel says it, she wraps one of her hands around Chloe’s. Chloe feels her breath leave her, and she stares at the hand holding hers. “You’ll see, when we’re out of the bay.”

The sunlight shafts into the truck, painting Rachel in an almost holy light, making her blonde hair glow. The smoke that hangs in the air from their joined smoking session waves around lazily, slowly finding its way out the truck windows. Chloe feels her heart pound, a crazy thought entering her head, and she toys with the idea of saying -

“Convince me.”

She blurts the words without meaning to, remembering the conditions she’d gotten her first …

Wait. 

Shit.

_Shit._

She didn’t mean to say that out loud.

Rachel blinks.

Chloe swallows.

Her heart beats faster, and she bites on her tongue.

Rachel tilts her head, and then her eyes widen in comprehension.

Gently, she squeezes Chloe’s hand, and Chloe meets her eyes.

“You mean … like last time?”

_Fuck._

She stares at Rachel mutely, her mouth refusing to move. Her lips feel dry. Her throat, too big. Slowly, agonisingly, silently, she nods her head the smallest amount. Rachel’s lip twitches into a grin, before she shifts closer. Her red and black plaid shirt flutters, slightly, as she moves nearer and nearer.

This close, she can faintly see the reflection of the fire raging in the forest in her hazel eyes. If she wants, she can count Rachel’s eyelashes. Her shadowed eyelids are lowered, demurely, her lips still holding that warm grin.

_Okay, this - this is happening. You didn’t - Rachel liked it  last time, right? So - just do … that ... again -_

Her breath smells a little like smoke, corrupted from her first cigarette, but still retaining that intoxicating _Rachel-ness._ She seems completely calm, totally cool and in her element. A complete contrast to how Chloe feels, as her heart pounds and sweat starts to trickle from under her beanie. One of Rachel’s hands brushes against the blue feather earring, Chloe barely sparing a glance before locking eyes with the -

The person -

The person she _lo-_

“Rachel -”

Rachel quietly shushes her, Chloe blinking and nodding once as Rachel takes both hands in hers, just like last time. The truck suddenly feels like it’s on fire, the warmth of Rachel’s breath and the hot day and the clinging red in her cheeks - 

Without another word, Rachel presses her lips against Chloe’s, firm yet fleeting at the same time. The best feeling in the world, melting her worries away with every passing second. Her heart thuds, a crashing beat in her ears. She feels one hand leave hers, only to feel it again in the back of her hair, fingers tangling in the dirty blond locks -

It feels as good as last time, the most addictive high she’s ever felt, even with the smell of smoke mingling with the smell of her own breath and the feeling of sweat in her palms and forehead -

_\- this is fucking awesome this is fucking awesome please never let this end -_

Her problems feel distant, non existent, as she loses herself in the moment. She can feel Rachel’s smile, and finds herself smiling too. Max isn’t gone, dad isn’t dead, mom still loves her, she’s not been expelled, everything’s _fine_ as long as Rachel -

She moves the hand Rachel had let go of, placing it over Rachel’s chest, letting out a strangled, quiet, involuntary moan as she clutches at the plaid shirt. Her heart beats faster and faster, an erratic and frantic beat -

Rachel squeezes her hand, _hard_ , fierce, reassuring, something she _needs_ , so she squeezes back twice as hard -

_\- please don’t leave me Rachel -_

After what feels like a passing moment and a fantastic eternity, Rachel pulls away, moving her hand from Chloe’s hair and dropping it gently onto her shoulder. Chloe realises herself, shifting her hand from Rachel’s shirt and dropping it limply by her side. Both their right hands are still intertwined, Chloe’s left resting on her own knee and Rachel’s wrapping around Chloe’s shoulder.

“Feeling any more convinced?” her tone is teasing, barely louder than a whisper. Chloe nods dumbly, her throat bobbing in her neck.

“Much more,” Chloe mutters, her voice feeling hoarse. Rachel laughs, the most wonderful noise in the world.

“Good.”

“Mmhmm.” Chloe’s hum is awkward, her cheeks bright red. She ducks her gaze as Rachel moves her hands away, pretending to be fascinated by her shoelaces. The blonde doesn’t seem to buy it, however, shuffling closer to Chloe.

“Cat get your tongue?”

_Well, you_ **_are_ ** _a Leo…_

“It’s not _my_ fault you’re good at kissing -”

_Fucking why can’t I control what I say -_

Rachel looks momentarily shocked, only to burst into giggles again. Chloe’s eyes widen, her cheeks feeling warmer and warmer and _warmer_ with every single awkward second -

“ _Well_ ,” the blonde bumps Chloe’s shoulder, smirking. “You aren’t so bad either, Chloe Price.”

_Wait what Rachel freakin’ Amber thinks I’m a good kisser?_

She blinks, a hundred different sentences starting on the tip of her tongue, only to slip away as she tries to vocalise any of them. Rachel shakes her head, bemused, leaning back in her seat.

"I'll ... remember that," she ekes out, chuckling nervously.

"Good. 'cause  _you_ might have to convince  _me_ you're up for leaving, at some point."

She catches the blond's subtle wink, and feels her blush worsen. Chloe can't help but stare. At the lips she just kissed, at the eyes that look at her with true warmth, the hair that glows in the sunlight.

“Soo…” Rachel starts, her voice teasing. The sixteen-year-old coughs, looking out the truck window for a second. Rachel clears her throat, and Chloe glances back. “If … _you’re_ Fred, and _this_ is our Mystery Machine ...does this make me Daphne?”

And there’s that winning smile, again.

The stammering fades as she thinks of the _perfect_ line, clearing her own throat and sitting up straight. _You got this._

“As long as you’re still Rachel Amber, I don’t care what else you are.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a one-shot, for now at least, but if people like it I might expand on it. I still really love Max and Chloe as a 'ship', but I also really enjoy the dynamic between Rachel and Chloe.
> 
> Let me know if you enjoyed this, and I'll write some more! I had a huge amount of fun writing this, and some lines and experiences were really personal to me. Especially the bits about parents. Those're important to me.
> 
> All the best, and then a little more!
> 
> \- BHBrowne


End file.
